Professor Barbara Parfitt (centre) with four of her 178 Bangladeshi ‘daughters’ who are continuing their B.Sc Nursing Studies at Glasgow Caledonian University. The nurses are from left: Popi Rani Bhowmik, Royeya Akter Bristy, Rafiqun Nesa, Satu Mondal.
A woman with ‘178 daughters’ was an honoured guest at the Bangladesh Independence Celebration in Glasgow on Sunday 30 March.
Professor Barbara Parfitt who set up and was first Principal of the Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing told the happy, national, gathering: ‘I had four wonderful years in Bangladesh. Now I feel I have 178 daughters – the students who have worked so hard and graduated from the College. They will help reduce child mortality and maternal mortality.’
She was accompanied by four of the College’s graduates who are studying, now, for their B.Sc in Nursing Studies at Glasgow Caledonian University. (see photograph)
Aged 22, Popi Bhowmik was one of the four at the celebration evening. She told this website: ‘After three years of study I know I am a totally responsible person. I have the patient’s life in my hand. They depend on me. I am very proud to be a nurse.’ She admits she was scared delivering her first baby at 3am with no doctor around. ‘But the mother was happy and the baby boy was healthy so I was happy.’ Popi’s dream it to ‘learn more’ and ‘reach the top of nursing.’
The University, in partnership with the Grameen Healthcare Trust, established the College of Nursing in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, in 2010.
Led by Professor Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Laureate and Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University, the Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing’s aim is to establish a nationally and internationally recognised institution for nursing and midwifery education in Bangladesh. Professor Parfitt was Professor and Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery and Community Health at Glasgow Caledonian University from 1995 till 2007 when she was appointed Director of the Caledonian Centre for Global Health. In that year she was also awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Honours List for services to international health development. She set up the College from scratch and became first Principal.
Two groups of young women have now graduated. ‘They are girls from poor backgrounds who are daughters of Grameen Bank borrowers,’ explained Professor Parfitt. ‘They borrow from the Bank and study for three years. Every one of the first group had offers of jobs before they finished their degree. They will pay back their loan over an agreed period as they earn. Without this education and training they would have married young, had children and continued in the cycle of poverty. But now they are able to break that cycle not only for themselves but also for the country while improving the health of other women and children.’
The 43rd Independence celebration showed a moving account of the fierce war in 1971 with what is now Pakistan. An estimated 3 million people died before Independence was declared. Speaker Dr Zasheem Ahmed, who is an Economist and Endowed Professor at Caledonian University, spoke eloquently of ‘my people who sacrificed their lives so that we could live in peace. We must honour them.’
He said he was proud of what Bangladesh had achieved since Independence. ‘We see economic growth thanks to things like the Grameen Bank – founded by Bangladeshi national, Professor Yunus and recognised world wide - and the College of Nursing.’
Economist Dr Zasheem Ahmed and Bailie Phil Greene
Bailie Phil Greene from Glasgow City Council, extended greetings on behalf of the City’s Lord Provost. He reflected on his visit by ship to what was East and West Pakistan before Bangladesh’s Independence. ‘It took three weeks to sail from West to East. I couldn’t understand how that was supposed to be the same country, being so far apart.’ As an SNP Councillor, he said he hoped to be able to invite everyone to a celebration of Scottish Independence after September.
The cultural programme for the evening had been organised by Dr Alvis Atique, who has recently gained her PhD in Civil Engineering from Strathclyde University while raising two young children. She sang and played the harmonium, others danced and sang and presented a fashion show. Children also performed to the delight of the audience. The event finished with a grand dinner.
